Fickle Censors

China's Internet censors are a fickle lot. One month all blogspot.com blogs are blocked. The next month they are accessible. The next month they are blocked again. My own blog has been blocked and censored most of the past year but during most of October it was visible in China. Yesterday, it disappeared again. I'm not sure which is worse, the outrage of censorship or never knowing when and why the information censors will block access.

I went with some friends to the Shanghai Aquarium today. Located next to the Jetson-like Pearl Tower the aquarium is quite excellent but at 120 rmb it's pretty pricy - especially for most Chinese tourists. Even so, it was crowded enough for my tastes. Most of the signage was in both Chinese and English. It was a good chance to learn a few new Chinese words. A penguin is called a "goose that stands on its tiptoes" in Chinese. Like every other aquarium in the world the tour ends at a gift shop. What I noticed about this one is that it has the same "made in China" stuffed toy animals that the aquariums in the US. The prices however are not at "made in China" levels - the prices are the same as in the US.

Shanghai Aquarium Gift Shop I went with some friends to the Shanghai Aquarium today. Located next to the Jetson-like Pearl Tower the aquarium is quite excellent but at 120 rmb it's pretty pricy - especially for most Chinese tourists. Even so, it was crowded enough for my tastes. Most of the signage was in both Chinese and English. It was a good chance to learn a few new Chinese words. A penguin is called a "goose that stands on its tiptoes" in Chinese.

Like every other aquarium in the world the tour ends at a gift shop. What I noticed about this one is that it has the same "made in China" stuffed toy animals that the aquariums in the US. The prices however are not at "made in China" levels - the prices are the same as in the US.

Halloween in Shanghai 

Xintiandi 

There's a Lesson Here Somewhere:

This story in the Shanghai Daily elaborates on a recent encounter between a Panda and a Foreigner. I think I'd have a hard time remaining calm under the same circumstances.

And I can't imagine this happening anywhere but here.

Like Bopping Gophers

The Shanghai City Government made a great show of closing down the Xiangyang Market, the center of counterfeit retail, a few months ago. They did indeed close it down and walled off the old outdoor market and the area is undergoing redevelopment as I write. As everyone expected however, the counterfeit pushers simply moved - into bigger and better quarters. Most of the counterfeit retailers have moved into a modern multi-storied building on Nanjing Road, the center of the shopping district in Shanghai. The same retailers and ripped-off intellectual property is now for sale in air-conditioned comfort instead of in the crowded lanes of Xiangyang. Trying to put an end to the counterfeiters business is like playing the popular amusement park game where you bop plastic gophers that pop out of holes - others just pop up somewhere else.

I won't give the address of the new location because I don't want to help them but one can easily spot the place by the super-aggressive fake Rolex, DVD and handbag touts that descend upon foreigners who happen to walk by. The touts assume foreigners are in the area to visit the "New Xiangyang" and want to beat the brick & mortar counterfeit dealers to the prey. I discovered the new location when I visited a restaurant in the area and couldn't get out of the taxi because the Xiangyang-style touts surrounded the car before I could even open the door.

Shanghai officials and police know about this resurrected Xiangyang but I can bet you they won't do anything about it until someone in a high place needs the space. But really, when it comes right down to it, China is awash in fake products. One new Xiangyang is just a drop in the ocean.

You may need to click on the image and enlarge to read. But I was surprised that Shanghai was thinking of its little people as far back as the 1930s. 

 

Peavine vs Baja Peavine

I suddenly realized how out of touch I am with home last weekend when it suddenly hit me that college football season started last month and I didn't even notice. I was invited over to Bubba's BBQ to watch the Peavine and Baja Peavine game on the big screen last weekend. The game was several hours old and what we saw was recorded off the Internet and replayed Sunday afternoon (Shanghai time). The Peavinians were outnumbered by the Bajaites who tended toward the loud end of the decorum scale. Fortunately, I had prudently checked the outcome of the game before I went to Bubba's so I knew exactly at what point to leave in order to maximize the pleasure and minimize the pain.

Deaf mute gangs and Slip-ons

The ingenuity of criminals in Shanghai never ceases to amaze me. It's never funny when one is a victim of thieves and crooks but I've got to admit that the oddity of some of the crime here is - well, odd. Take this story about a criminal gang of deaf mutes.

I've written before about the aggressive street shoeshine mongers in Shanghai but they've taken it to a new level. Today, as I was walking in front of the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office a shoeshine man reached out and grabbed my leg as I walked by and tried to take my shoe off my foot in mid-stride. The only way I could keep my slip-off shoe on was to push my foot down onto the pavement. In doing so I accidentally crushed the man's fingers. Guess I'll have to start wearing lace-ups or gluing my loafers on.

We Are Driving Other Animals Crazy

This New York Times article on the psychological effect we are having on elephants is thought-provoking. The parallels between human society and elephant society are beyond anything I imagined.

Speaking of how we treat animals - if you want to see something truely obscene, take a look at this.

Guests of Honor Snub Celebration

The PRC is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the "founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region" this week. For some reason none of the Tibetans showed up for the festivities.

Moon Gazing and Pot Pies

This is "French Culture Year" in China and I've already noticed a marked Franconization of Chinese culture. The wait staff in the cafes are growing increasingly surly. Before long I fear they will begin abusing customers at will.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival when Chinese families are supposed to gather together, gaze at the full moon and eat mooncakes. We had a modified version of the festival in our house. We gathered together, watched Malcolm in the Middle on Star World and ate vegetable pot pies. Afterward we did the traditional moon-gazing and rollerblading around the neighborhood.

Asia's Fruitcake

China's answer to the West's fruitcake is the mooncake and tomorrow is the mooncake festival. Everyone gives boxes of mooncakes to friends and family and companies give them to their customers and clients. Many people don't care for the biscuit-shaped confections filled with various gummy flavors. There's a lot of re-gifting going on as people try to both meet obligations and get rid of the awful things. I'm waiting for someone to come up with a peanut butter and chocolate mooncake. I might be able to stomach that.

Lake Tai

On the last day of our three-day holiday G-man and I were invited to a marina on China's third largest lake, Taihu. Both Suzhou and Wuxi cities are on this shallow but huge lake. An acquaintance from Peavine that has a distribution business near Shanghai invited us out to the marina and provided a houseboat for an overnight stay.

G-man enjoyed his first jetski and had a chance to drive both a motorboat and a houseboat all around the lake. No bridges were knocked down in the process. Trying to avoid hitting the many fish traps in the lake proved to be a challenge. The fishermen place a single, thin, bamboo pole where the underwater traps are so keen eyesight is needed to avoid tangling up in the nets. The lake is also dissected by a part of the heavily trafficked Grand Canal that stretches from Suzhou to Beijing. Large barges full of coal, grains or scrap tear through the lake at surprisingly high speeds. G-man slipped behind one of the barges and we tailed him several miles.

It was so nice to get out of Shanghai for a change. In the evening we enjoyed dinner on the houseboat and watched the moon glimmer on the quiet lake. The silence was remarkable.

PRC Issues Manners Guidelines

The Shanghai Daily reports that the Chinese government has issued guidelines for Chinese tourists visiting other countries. The guidelines include not jumping lines, not spitting, not talking loudly, and not shining shoes with hotel bed linens. It seems that the government is reacting to surveys and foreign news articles about bad behavior on the part of the increasing numbers of Chinese tourists traveling abroad. I think its a good idea but I wish the government would put a little effort into applying the guidelines to the domestic scene.

Of course every country has its rubes that are, unfortunately, allowed to travel and bother other people. I've been embarrassed by the occasional American that behaves badly overseas but by and large - most Americans abroad behave considerately. Here in China I'd have to say the most frequent loutish behavior by 大鼻子 or big noses (Westerners) is found among a small minority of European tourists epitomized by the Eastern European woman that I recently witnessed being extraordinarily abusive to a waitress at the Captain Hostel. I was so ashamed of my fellow Westerner I made sure to let the waitress know she wasn't an American. We take enough criticism - no need to be blamed for others' ugly behavior.

October 1st

October 1st is the PRC's "July 4th" - it's national founding day. It's a holiday in China but they've stretched the holiday into a week-long rest called "Golden Week". Offices and factories close for the entire week and most Chinese travel home to be with family. The national day celebrates the day Mao stood in Tiananmen and declared the People's Republic of China. I'd link you to the explanation of the event description on Wikipedia but Wikipedia is banned and blocked by the Chinese Internet censors. The unvarnished truth isn't so welcome in the PRC. For those of you that live in the free world you can see the Wikipedia entry here.

While office and factory workers get the week off, retail employees and laborers don't. As I walk around Shanghai on these holiday days I see many workers carrying on as usual. Construction workers, repairmen, shop clerks and many others are working away as usual. I heard a few fireworks last night but it was nothing compared to the new year's day celebration. There are a few special October 1st programs on TV and a few more PRC flags displayed in buses and taxis but beyond that I don't see much of a celebration.

Wish I could include sound on this blog 

F1 fans 

F1 in Shanghai. Please don't let these fall into the hands of Shanghai's taxi drivers! 

Howling Machines

No longer excited by Shanghai's taxi drivers G-man and I opted for Formula 1 this weekend. I haven't been to a car race since I went to a Peavine stockcar race when I was a pre-teen so I was clueless as to what "F1" was about. I went simply because it was something new.

Yesterday was "the qualifying" so when we sat down and saw a sporty-looking car racing around the track I assumed its driver was giving it all he had in the hopes of qualifying for the big race on Sunday. In an effort to show G-man how much I knew I asked the Polish fellow next to me if this was "Schumacher" or not. "No, that's just the guy that looks for debris on the track", he said pityingly.

A few moments later the F1 cars came roaring by at 200 mph and we were in shock. The noise and vibration was tremendous. Our ears were in pain. Note to self, take earplugs to an F1 race. Without them we were only able to take a few minutes of this before we left for the day - but not before buying some earplugs for Sunday.

Today, we were better prepared with earplugs, monocular, snacks and mentally prepared for the thunder. It was great. I finally figured out that Schumacher (sp?) was that little helmet barely protruding from a howling machine with Marlboro painted all over it. He won by the way. I doubt if he'd stand a chance though on the streets of Shanghai.